One that I’m pondering for myself, and thought it might be interesting to share here.
Who are your heroes? Are they people you know/knew? Have you ever met one of them?
I hope people will feel free to volunteer answers. I promise to jump in once I’ve had some time to think and answer those questions for myself.
Hillary was my hero until I found out that she supports the Iraq War. Now I have no heros. It makes me very sad.
The only heroes I’ve ever had were my mother and father. They are the only ones worth having.
I’ve only had one hero.
He spent his life in public service, first as an ER nurse helping those that needed help right now, and then as the head Nurse and Director at the state mental Hospital helping fight for those that couldn’t fight for themselves. Always fighting for the little guy.
I admired his strengh, his courage and his ability to carry on even when a brick wall lay just ahead.
I amired him so much, I married him.
I sort of collect ‘em: http://del.icio.us/sennoma/heroes
But only one of those is a genuine boyhood hero: Gerald Durrell. Sadly, he’s dead and I never met him.
My heroes used to all be artists that defied convention and were masters of their form: Alfred Hitchcock, Bjork, Trent Reznor, Anne Bogart, Hal Prince…
Now all my heroes are indy journalists: Amy Goodman, Greg Palast, Chalmers Johnson…
I have two heros,
The first is my great grandfather, without a doubt one of the greatest influences on my life. He was an old school Republican who had never broken party line until GBush the First. He taught me to care for my community, to be responsible for my own actions, to hold our public leaders accountable for what they say, to work hard, play hard and surround your family around you. He taught me to be proud of who I was and to know that I come from a long and proud heritage.
The other is Eartha Kitt, I love the fact that she struggled out of nothing, spoke her mind even when it wasn’t popular and broke many ceilings for people. And let’s face it that purrrrring voice touches me somewhere special.
I have a few heroes, but the first one that springs to mind is one of my taekwondo teachers (name-changing for privacy: let’s call her Naomi). Naomi is a 4th degree black belt, a mother of one, a wife, the owner of her own bakery, a woman. I’ve been studying under her for about 8 years. She has an amazing capacity for patience, and no tolerance for BS. Naomi is one of the strongest people I know (physically, emotionally, spiritually), and I have nothing but the utmost respect for her.
My heros:
Brave every day types of people who wake up and survive day-to-day in the midst of adversity are my heros. They could be anyone from a 90 year old lady that still takes the subway in New York City to a bullied teenager that still dreams about a bright future. There is so much suffering that we don’t see everyday, and the people that face that suffering are the ones that are my heros.
Some iconic heros of mine are Jaqueline Kennedy Onasis for her love and preservation of history, Audrey Hepburn for her work with children even in the midst of her cancer, Angela Davis for just being a fierce woman. This last one sounds silly, but Bill Clinton is a hero to me because the man never stops smiling. I have never seen someone with so much positive energy. I many have not always like him as a president, but you have to hand it to him for never becoming bitter to all of the people against him.
So many, so little time. My great-great-grandfather Terrence, who came over from Ireland at age 9 as an orphan, and ended up with the largest ranch and biggest bank in southeastern Arizona.
My grandmother, Geneva, who was the first licensed female pharmacist, in Arizona, back in the ’20s, for everything.
Winston Churchill, even with all his faults, for his prescience and courage at a time of appeasement (the fact that his story has been co-opted by dwarves does not mean he was not a giant).
Douglas MacArthur, for his ability to understand the enemy so well that he could capture massive territory with minimum loss of life.
Lincoln, as described by Douglass.
George Mason, for his consistent stands on liberty and slavery at a time when most weren’t paying attention.
Mary Baker Eddy, for her insistence on the perfectability of Man, and my childhood prayer, which began “Father/Mother God”.
Tom Paine, for his plain speaking.
Cicero, as much as he irritates me, for his adamant defense of Republic.
Marcus Aurelius, for his calmness in the face of chaos.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, for elevating the status of women.
Harvey Milk, for changing the playing field.
Nelson Mandela, for both liberating and saving his country.
St. Francis, for what Christianity could be.
Martin Luther King, for finding a path of love through a thicket of hate.
RFK, for what might have been.
Barry Goldwater, for being so consistently libertarian that his party abandoned him.
Pierre Van Paasen, for crying out in the wilderness.
William Penn, for insisting on peace and equality.
Mother Jones, for her agitation.
Eleanor Roosevelt, for shaping the conscience of the nation.
Richard Halliburton, for making the fantasy of adventure real for me.
Lorin Eiseley, for pushing me to follow my dreams.
Louis Leakey, for giving me the dreams in the first place.
Alice Paul, for breaking the impasse.
Aung San Suu Kyi, for her patient persistence in the face of oppression.
Cheryl Honkala, for her agitation for the poor and homeless.
I could go on for hours…there are so many great people. BTW, even though most of my list is posthumous, that doesn’t mean that there are no heroes in the world today. Just that their final story is not yet written.
This is an interesting and strangely provocative question. At first I found it hard to answer until I read Andy’s thoughts. (What a guy, that Andy.) I realized all of a sudden that I DO actually have at least one hero. (I thought I didn’t have one.) My house is filled with framed posters by A.M. Cassandre from the 1930s and beyond. (See http://www.cassandre.fr/) Real name Adolphe Mouron. He was an amazing, and finally troubled, man with an extraordinary vision in the most literal and wonderful sense of the word “vision.” I think a “hero” is someone who, like Cassandre, opens your eyes and your heart with an extraordinary awareness. And I suppose that his assumed name was an astonishing comment on his own sense of vision. I hope this may be useful somehow in the Republic of T.